Saturday, January 03, 2009

Evangeline Cowl

Way back in November of "aught 8" I whipped up some Evangeline mitts to keep my hands warm in my temperature challenged library.

When I finished, D looked at them and said, "I love that cable - you should use it on a cowl" and followed it up with, "I would totally wear a cowl like that."How could I resist a) the knitting flattery, b) the great idea, and c) a request for knitting that would provide the small project FO high .

So here it is, the first FO of "aught 9", the Evangeline Cowl:

Yarn: Dream in Color Classy "Cloud Jungle" - which happens to be the recommended yarn for the Evangeline Mitt pattern. I used less than half the skein, so with one skein you could potentially make both the cowl and the mitts!Needles: US 7 (I used a 47" circular needle to magic loop - I divided 54 stitches [3 cable repeats] and 36 stitches [2 cable repeats]), you will also need a cable needle or spare DPNGauge: 5 stitches = 1 inch in StockinetteRavelry

Cast on 90 stitches, join in the round and purl one round.Set up round: *p2, k6, p2, k6, p2* repeat 5 times around

Round 3: *p2, put 4 stitches on a spare DPN and hold to the back, k2, knit the 4 on the DPN, p2, put 2 stitches on a DPN and hold to the front, k4, k the 2 stitches from the DPN, p2* repeat 5 times around

Round 5: *p2, k4, put 2 stitches on a DPN and hold to the front, p1, k the 2 from the DPN, put 1 stitch on a DPN and hold to the back, k2, p the stitch from the DPN, k4, p2* repeat 5 times around

Round 7: *p2, k4, p1, put 2 stitches on a DPN and hold to the front, k2, k the 2 from the DPN, p1, k4, p2* repeat 5 times around

Round 9: *p2, k4, put 1 stitch on a DPN and hold to the back, k2, p the stitch on the DPN, put 2 stitches on a DPN and hold forward, p1, k the 2 stitches on the DPN, k4, p2* repeat 5 times around

After the "set up round" knit the cable pattern (rounds 1-10) a total of four times.

Finish by knitting rounds 1-4 of the cable pattern, repeat round 4, and bind off in purl. Weave in the ends and block.

This cowl is made to be fitted. Since I like to be able to tuck my chin in my cowls, if I were to make one for myself, I would probably CO 108 stitches and do 6 cable repeats around. Maybe one pattern repeat taller as well. Mods are what it's all about, right?

There was one more little FO of "aught 8".

I was going through my sock yarn bin last week, and the Bud saw this:

He was totally taken with the colors and kept saying, "yep, those are the colors I like."

So just as '08 was on it's way out, I whipped up a quick pair of Budlet socks [Ravelry].

The last pair of socks I made for him I tried out a short row heel for the first time. This time I tried an afterthought heel. Where I would normally break for the heel, I knit a piece of waste yarn across half of the stitches. Then I put those waste yarn stitches back on the needle and continued around like normal. After finishing the toe, I picked out the waste yarn and knit a round heel (like a round toe).

I really enjoyed knitting the heel this way, but I will probably knit a deeper heel for his chunky lil' feet next time.

I like an afterthought heel better with a smidge of "gusset" (maybe 4 stitches for budlet sized socks, I use 8 to 10 for full grown socks) and with the heel done over 60% of the stitches. Fits better to me (and sil and sis and dd and others who get gift socks like it fine). Let me know if you like it.-- patternwhisperer on rav